Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up

Fascinating exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at the life of Frida Kahlo though her possessions.
 
This was a stylishly presented show with clever presentation cases such as those designed like four poster beds to represent the time she spent sick in bed. However it was very busy and cramped in places. I must admit I’ve not caught the Frida Kahlo addiction but a lot of the audience had, including a grandma and granddaughter with matching flowers in their hair.
 
I found the most fascinating thing in the show was the story of how 6,000 photographs, 22,000 documents and 300 personal items were found in a sealed up bathroom in 2004, 50 years after her death, and these form the basis for this show.
 
The first room, a long corridor, told the story of her life though those photographs and documents. I was stunned that not only had she had polio but to see details of the awful crash she was involved in. The list of injuries was horrific!
 
Another room concentrated on the possessions with a cabinet of beauty products including an array of nail varnish as she painted her nails to match the flowers she was wearing. The cabinets on her medical conditions were sobering but I loved the way she had decorated her spine braces. Around these were photographs of her painting lying on her back in bed and the extraordinary aisle which was designed for her.
 
Then the last room were the clothes! There was a large cabinet with about 20 outfits in them in bright colours. It talked about the origins of the style including the use of traditional Rebozo, the large shawl. There were also some lovely self-portraits around the walls.
 
I did come out of the show with a much better understanding of why Kahlo was as she was, partly wearing the wonderful clothes and make up as an antidote to the ill health and a cover for some of the injuries. I still didn’t understand the unibrow though! I would have liked to see more paintings in the show as a reminder of why we were looking at her possessions. At times it felt like the cult and personality had overshadowed the art.
 
Closes on 4 November 2018
 
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